Tiger Woods He experienced mixed sensations upon his reappearance 236 days later. After fourteen promising holes, three deadly 15, 16 and 17 sent him to a 75, three over par, in the first round of Hero World Challenge.
Woods, competing for the first time since withdrawing in the third round of the Masters in May, hosts the tournament in the Bahamas and is a five-time winner. He played his best friend Justin Thomas in an invitational tournament with twenty players and sealed four birdies, five bogeys and one double bogey for a total of +3.
It’s the eighteentheight strokes away from the one head they share Tony Finau and Brian Harman. Finau had six birdies and one bogey in the opening round, the same as his compatriot. Woods stayed away from those figures.
Everything was almost under control for him, with four birdies and three bogeys after the 14th hole. However, his drive left the par-five 15th. Woods’ ball stopped under a bush and Tiger had to play it out from there. It condemned him to a double bogey. Woods failed to get up and down for par on the 16th hole (bogey) and then three-shotted the 17th hole (another bogey).
“I was rusty, I didn’t feel well and the conditions were difficult at the beginning,” Woods told the Golf Channel shortly after teeing off on the 18th green with a par. “I didn’t finish my round when I needed to and in the end everything went wrong,” he lamented.
Woods is eight shots back of the lead held by Brian Harman and Tony Finau. Jordan Spieth was third at -4 on a day where two-time defending champion Viktor Hovland finished at +1, sixteenth.
Woods underwent surgery in the spring for plantar fasciitis and said Tuesday that he is ready to walk through all four rounds of the tournament. He is ahead of only reigning US Open champion Wynham Clark (76) and Will Zalatoris (81), who is returning from an injury that kept him out of the field for 251 days.
“I didn’t commit to some of the shots. I was a little hesitant about whether I should take this shot at this height, this trajectory…” lamented Woods, who walked with a visible limp most of his round. “I’m a little sore, that’s for sure,” said “We have some things to do tonight to prepare for tomorrow,” he concluded.
Source: La Verdad
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